purl backwards ~

I took this scarf I'm knitting to the Whatcom Weavers Guild's March meeting last night and hoped that anyone who might be looking at me didn't "think me a bit queer" due to my slower than normal knitting speed.

I'm so tired of knitting and purling ~ boring, boring, boring. The whole ordeal of turning the project around and purling back a row after happily knitting forward can sometimes be more than I can take (yes, I'll end up face down on the living room floor again).

I decided, screw that whole flip it over and purl. Now I will only purl backwards...know what I mean?

Don't flip over the piece to purl a row, but keep the "right side" facing you and purl backwards. This does take a bit of concentration in the beginning, but if you aren't trying to listen to a guild program, the rhythm will sink in and you'll do fine.

Or at least I did fine last night until I found one row that I made a mistake....the mistake was on a knit row, so it had NOTHING to do with my purl back system.

The yarn I'm using is lovely and came from the Ferndale Band Boosters fundraising auction last month. LYS, Northwest Handspun Yarns, had donated yarn, a basket, knitting needles, and a gift certificate for the event. Of course I had to take it home ~ an opportunity to support music in the schools.

Tonight, it will be back to the spinning wheel. Used my Majacraft Suzie for the last two projects, so I decided to pull out my Louet Victoria for the yarn I'm working on now.

The Victoria is perfect for couch sitting/spinning. I've developed a fine technique of only treadling with my right foot (the Victoria is a double treadle), and swinging my left leg up on my husband's lap to demand a foot rub. It works!